Psalm 120–134

¹A Song of the Ascents. Unto Jehovah in my distress I have called, And He answereth me.

²O Jehovah, deliver my soul from a lying lip, From a deceitful tongue!

³What doth He give to thee? And what doth He add to thee? O deceitful tongue!

⁴Sharp arrows of a mighty one, with broom-coals.

⁵Woe to me, for I have inhabited Mesech, I have dwelt with tents of Kedar.

⁶Too much hath my soul dwelt with him who is hating peace.

⁷I am peace, and when I speak they are for war!

Psalm 121

¹A Song of the Ascents. I lift up mine eyes unto the hills, Whence doth my help come?

²My help is from Jehovah, maker of heaven and earth,

³He suffereth not thy foot to be moved, Thy preserver slumbereth not.

⁴Lo, He slumbereth not, nor sleepeth, He who is preserving Israel.

⁵Jehovah is thy preserver, Jehovah is thy shade on thy right hand,

⁶By day the sun doth not smite thee, Nor the moon by night.

⁷Jehovah preserveth thee from all evil, He doth preserve thy soul.

⁸Jehovah preserveth thy going out and thy coming in, From henceforth even unto the age!

Psalm 122

¹A Song of the Ascents, by David. I have rejoiced in those saying to me, ‘To the house of Jehovah we go.’

²Our feet have been standing in thy gates, O Jerusalem!

³Jerusalem—the builded one—Is as a city that is joined to itself together.

⁴For thither have tribes gone up, Tribes of Jah, companies of Israel, To give thanks to the name of Jehovah.

⁵For there have sat thrones of judgment, Thrones of the house of David.

⁶Ask ye the peace of Jerusalem, At rest are those loving thee.

⁷Peace is in thy bulwark, rest in thy high places,

⁸For the sake of my brethren and my companions, Let me speak, I pray thee, ‘Peace be in thee.’

⁹For the sake of the house of Jehovah our God, I seek good for thee!

Psalm 123

¹A Song of the Ascents. Unto Thee I have lifted up mine eyes, O dweller in the heavens.

²Lo, as eyes of men-servants Are unto the hand of their masters, As eyes of a maid-servant Are unto the hand of her mistress, So are our eyes unto Jehovah our God, Till that He doth favour us.

³Favour us, O Jehovah, favour us, For greatly have we been filled with contempt,

⁴Greatly hath our soul been filled With the scorning of the easy ones, With the contempt of the arrogant!

Psalm 124

¹A Song of the Ascents, by David. Save for Jehovah—who hath been for us, (Pray, let Israel say),

²Save for Jehovah—who hath been for us, In the rising up of man against us,

³Then alive they had swallowed us up, In the burning of their anger against us,

⁴Then the waters had overflowed us, The stream passed over our soul,

⁵Then passed over our soul had the proud waters.

⁶Blessed is Jehovah who hath not given us, A prey to their teeth.

⁷Our soul as a bird hath escaped from a snare of fowlers, The snare was broken, and we have escaped.

⁸Our help is in the name of Jehovah, Maker of the heavens and earth!

Psalm 125

¹A Song of the Ascents. Those trusting in Jehovah are as Mount Zion, It is not moved—to the age it abideth.

²Jerusalem! mountains are round about her, And Jehovah is round about His people, From henceforth even unto the age.

³For the rod of wickedness resteth not On the lot of the righteous, That the righteous put not forth on iniquity their hands.

⁴Do good, O Jehovah, to the good, And to the upright in their hearts.

⁵As to those turning to their crooked ways, Jehovah causeth them to go with workers of iniquity. Peace on Israel!

Psalm 126

¹A Song of the Ascents. In Jehovah’s turning back to the captivity of Zion, We have been as dreamers.

²Then filled with laughter is our mouth, And our tongue with singing, Then do they say among nations, ‘Jehovah did great things with these.’

³Jehovah did great things with us, We have been joyful.

⁴Turn again, O Jehovah, to our captivity, As streams in the south.

⁵Those sowing in tears, with singing do reap,

⁶Whoso goeth on and weepeth, Bearing the basket of seed, Surely cometh in with singing, bearing his sheaves!

Psalm 127

¹A Song of the Ascents, by Solomon. If Jehovah doth not build the house, In vain have its builders laboured at it, If Jehovah doth not watch a city, In vain hath a watchman waked.

²Vain for you who are rising early, Who delay sitting, eating the bread of griefs, So He giveth to His beloved one sleep.

³Lo, an inheritance of Jehovah are sons, A reward is the fruit of the womb.

⁴As arrows in the hand of a mighty one, So are the sons of the young men.

⁵O the happiness of the man Who hath filled his quiver with them, They are not ashamed, For they speak with enemies in the gate!

Psalm 128

¹A Song of the Ascents. O the happiness of every one fearing Jehovah, Who is walking in His ways.

²The labour of thy hands thou surely eatest, Happy art thou, and good is to thee.

³Thy wife is as a fruitful vine in the sides of thy house, Thy sons as olive plants around thy table.

⁴Lo, surely thus is the man blessed who is fearing Jehovah.

⁵Jehovah doth bless thee out of Zion, Look, then, on the good of Jerusalem, All the days of thy life,

⁶And see the sons of thy sons! Peace on Israel!

Psalm 129

¹A Song of the Ascents. Often they distressed me from my youth, Pray, let Israel say:

²Often they distressed me from my youth, Yet they have not prevailed over me.

³Over my back have ploughers ploughed, They have made long their furrows.

⁴Jehovah is righteous, He hath cut asunder cords of the wicked.

⁵Confounded and turn backward do all hating Zion.

⁶They are as grass of the roofs, That before it was drawn out withereth,

⁷That hath not filled the hand of a reaper, And the bosom of a binder of sheaves.

⁸And the passers by have not said, ‘The blessing of Jehovah is on you, We blessed you in the Name of Jehovah!’

Psalm 130

¹A Song of the Ascents. From depths I have called Thee, Jehovah.

²Lord, hearken to my voice, Thine ears are attentive to the voice of my supplications.

³If iniquities Thou dost observe, O Lord, who doth stand?

⁴But with Thee is forgiveness, that Thou mayest be feared.

⁵I hoped for Jehovah—hoped hath my soul, And for His word I have waited.

⁶My soul is for the Lord, More than those watching for morning, Watching for morning!

⁷Israel doth wait on Jehovah, For with Jehovah is kindness, And abundant with Him is redemption.

⁸And He doth redeem Israel from all his iniquities!

Psalm 131

¹A Song of the Ascents, by David. Jehovah, my heart hath not been haughty, Nor have mine eyes been high, Nor have I walked in great things, And in things too wonderful for me.

²Have I not compared, and kept silent my soul, As a weaned one by its mother? As a weaned one by me is my soul.

³Israel doth wait on Jehovah, From henceforth, and unto the age!

Psalm 132

¹A Song of the Ascents. Remember, Jehovah, for David, all his afflictions.

²Who hath sworn to Jehovah. He hath vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob:

³‘If I enter into the tent of my house, If I go up on the couch of my bed,

⁴If I give sleep to mine eyes, To mine eyelids—slumber,

⁵Till I do find a place for Jehovah, Tabernacles for the Mighty One of Jacob.

⁶‘Lo, we have heard it in Ephratah, We have found it in the fields of the forest.

⁷We come in to His tabernacles, We bow ourselves at His footstool.

⁸Arise, O Jehovah, to Thy rest, Thou, and the ark of Thy strength,

⁹Thy priests do put on righteousness, And Thy pious ones cry aloud.

¹⁰For the sake of David Thy servant, Turn not back the face of Thine anointed.

¹¹Jehovah hath sworn truth to David, He turneth not back from it: Of the fruit of thy body, I set on the throne for thee.

¹²If thy sons keep My covenant, And My testimonies that I teach them, Their sons also for ever and ever, Do sit on the throne for thee.

¹³For Jehovah hath fixed on Zion, He hath desired it for a seat to Himself,

¹⁴This is My rest for ever and ever, Here do I sit, for I have desired it.

¹⁵Her provision I greatly bless, Her needy ones I satisfy with bread,

¹⁶And her priests I clothe with salvation, And her pious ones do sing aloud.

¹⁷There I cause to spring up a horn for David, I have arranged a lamp for Mine anointed.

¹⁸His enemies I do clothe with shame, And upon him doth his crown flourish!

Psalm 133

¹A Song of the Ascents, by David. Lo, how good and how pleasant The dwelling of brethren—even together!

²As the good oil on the head, Coming down on the beard, the beard of Aaron, That cometh down on the skirt of his robes,

³As dew of Hermon—That cometh down on hills of Zion, For there Jehovah commanded the blessing—Life unto the age!

Psalm 134

¹A Song of the Ascents. Lo, bless Jehovah, all servants of Jehovah, Who are standing in the house of Jehovah by night.

²Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, And bless ye Jehovah.

³Jehovah doth bless thee out of Zion, The maker of the heavens and earth!

Psalm 135